Tarot's origin - any evidence?

[greyWiz]

Hi, first of all I'd like to thank all the great replies!

One of the links posted by zenmaster led me to Manly Palmer Hall's Secret Teachings of All Ages. Here's an interesting excerpt from his book:

Through the Gypsies the Tarot cards may be traced back to the religious symbolism of the ancient Egyptians. In his remarkable work, The Gypsies, Samuel Roberts presents ample proof of their Egyptian origin. In one place he writes: "When Gypsies originally arrived in England is very uncertain. They are first noticed in our laws, by several statutes against them in the reign of Henry VIII.; in which they are described as 'an outlandish people, calling themselves Egyptians,--who do not profess any craft or trade, but go about in great numbers.'" A curious legend relates that after the destruction of the Serapeum in Alexandria, the large body of attendant priests banded themselves together to preserve the secrets of the rites of Serapis. Their descendants (Gypsies) carrying with them the most precious of the volumes saved from the burning library--the Book of Enoch, or Thoth (the Tarot)--became wanderers upon the face of the earth, remaining a people apart with an ancient language and a birthright of magic and mystery.

Here's a link to The Gypsies, by Samuel Roberts:

http://books.google.com.br/books?id=u7Q_...&q&f=false

The text quoted by Palmer Hall (about England's laws) is on page 27.